Resurrection (complete story)
by Beth6787
Summary: Set at the climax of "EndGame" and immediately afterwards. Admiral Janeway thought that she had outwitted the Borg Queen : but she was wrong. The Collective decided to replace her with the only individual in the galaxy that posed an existential threat to them : Captain Kathryn Janeway herself.


Beth6787

15 December y

Resurrection

Set at the climax of "EndGame" and immediately post. Admiral Janeway thought she had outwitted the Borg Queen but she was wrong. The Collective decided to replace her with the only individual in the galaxy that posed an existential threat to them: Captain Kathryn Janeway herself.

Admiral Janeway grimaced and suppressed a scream as the nanoprobes coursed through her body. It was almost over and she could feel the virus spreading throughout the Collective, they had won. She and her reckless younger self. She watched through what was left of her vision as the Queen started to disintegrate before her. The Queen fell to the floor, her limbs detached and scattered. Janeway could sense her thoughts and yes, feelings, the woman who had once been an individual of species 126 felt a mixture of fear and relief. Then something else that was only Borg. A sense of triumph. Janeway was fading fast but she heard the Queen's last thoughts. "No Admiral, it is you that underestimated us. Transwarp technology gives us the ability to travel through both space and time. I have always known this day would come and have prepared for it. You forget your younger self was partially assimilated when she dared to enter Unimatrix Zero. As we speak, I am completing the transference of my consciousness into Seven. She will then transfer my consciousness into Captain Janeway. She will be the new Borg Queen..." and with that last thought passing between them the transwarp hub disintegrated and they were both no more...

"Set a course, for home". Captain Kathryn Janeway gritted her teeth and suppressed her tears. They had made it but she had lost Chakotay. That was clear to her when she had dismissed Tom and turned to ask Chakotay to take the helm. She had both won a great battle and lost her own personal war simultaneously. She glanced back at Seven now, yes she was still making eyes at Chakotay. How had she not noticed before? And since when had Seven even tolerated Chakotay, yet alone harbour romantic feelings for him, and vice versa? !

She gave herself a mental shake and forced herself to focus on the present. She handed the Bridge over to Chakotay, making the excuse that she needed to be left alone in her Ready Room to negotiate debrief and disembarkation schedules with Starfleet Command. True, but most of all she needed some privacy to compose her face and thoughts.

Seven stood riveted to the spot and focussed on the viewscreen in front of her. "Welcome Home" she heard in her head. The voice of the Queen. But she was dead, of course she was. Seven admonished herself for being jumpy. She was nervous about how the humans of planet Earth would truly receive an ex Borg drone. Her external implants were still visible, most notably the ocular implant and assimilation apparatus on her right hand. She was afraid of rejection and she was letting that fear play tricks on her mind...wasn't she?...

The Queen admonished herself for her indulgence. Careful, she thought. You are hidden in the recesses of Seven's mind. She is not aware that you are here but that could very easily change. She could feel the alien - human - emotions and hormones coursing through Seven's circulation. Remember, I am temporarily imperfect, Janeway's mutilations limiting my physical abilities. My perfect drone, Seven of Nine , has been remade in the imperfect image of the human Janeway. Soon she would correct that for ever. But, for now, patience was needed. First things first. Seven had played her role to perfection so far. It was easy to reprogram her whilst she regenerated in her alcove in Voyager's cargo bay. It had worked so well that Seven had even created the holographic Chakotay to practice on. The unknown in the mix was the Commander himself. Could she use the, very weak, neural link residue left by Riley Fraser to suggest to him that he was romantically interested in Seven too? It had taken some persuasion on the part of Seven to obtain that first date but thereafter she had been able to introduce just enough nanoprobes into the Commander each time she touched his arm to strengthen the bond enough for Chakotay to be receptive to a further date. It was imperative she separate Chakotay from Janeway. He was the human closest to her and would be the first to know she was no longer herself when the final transference took place. However, a heart broken Janeway would give both him and Seven a wide berth and any initial change in personality traits would be attributed to her licking her wounds after the romantic rejection.

Seven excused herself, saying she needed to get back to Astrometrics to complete the inventory of all her logs for the last four years and prepare a final report for Starfleet in readiness for her de-briefing. Chakotay had finished locking Voyager into a geostationary orbit above Starfleet HQ and had returned to his command seat. He nodded in her direction then set about finishing his own reports. He knew that the Captain would be giving a ship wide address within the hour to confirm their arrival home and the plan of action over the next few days. He knew the score. It was likely the crewmen ( i.e. non commissioned officers ) would be debriefed first, probably in small batches on a departmental basis, and that would happen at HQ so he expected the first batch of disembarkations a couple of days from now. They would be followed by the junior officers, though he suspected that those given their rank by Starfleet and those given a field commission by Kathryn (in other words his Ex-Maquis crew) would be separated off. He was keen to see how Starfleet was going to play this. He would know by what Kathryn did - or did not - say in her crew address. Then lastly the senior officers, finishing with the Captain herself. He doubted whether Kathryn or he would be disembarking for at least a fortnight. He briefly wondered where Seven would fit into all this. She would probably stick as closely to the Captain as she was allowed. He knew she had many reservations about being back in the AQ , yet alone on Earth. A planet she last set eyes on at the age of five and a universe of lifetimes ago. He mentally slapped himself. Seven was the Captain's project, he needed to focus on protecting the interests of his Maquis crew, especially Belanna who had only just given birth and was about to be introduced to Admiral Paris as his daughter-in-law. How that would go down with the powers that be he just did not know.

Kathryn felt as though she had been at her desk for hours, although in reality it was about forty minutes. She had had a barrage of messages, all marked urgent from Starfleet Command, had had to make rapid fire decisions about which actually did need addressing right away and try to determine how HQ was reacting to their return. The Admiral had been given a hero's welcome but that was sixteen years in the future and long after the turbulence of the Dominion War had settled down. Also the Maquis rebellion was still recent history in this timeframe so whether Starfleet would choose to pursue the charges they had on file when she set out to the Badlands seven years ago , she had no idea. The initial indications were good, although you could not tell much from the formalities. Admiral's Nechayev and Paris would be beaming over to Voyager at 1800 hours and Chell was to organise a reception in the Mess Hall. It was already 1508. She had better hurry.

The Captain got Harry to patch her through to the Mess Hall and she put Chell in the picture. She told him he was at liberty to rope in as many crewmen as he needed so long as everything was set by 1745. The she braced herself, returned to the Bridge and stood in front of the viewscreen. She nodded to Harry Kim who patched her through on both the ship wide tannoy and down to HQ. They would all hear her speech to ensure everyone was on the same page and there would be no misunderstandings.

"Good afternoon, this is your Captain. Please stop what you are doing and listen to my address. I will be as brief as possible. Firstly, let me officially confirm that we are indeed home. We are in a stable geostationary orbit of Earth, above Starfleet HQ and will remain here until disembarkation is complete. After which Voyager will be piloted to Utopia Planatia drydock for retrofitting. The crew will be debriefed and disembarked in the following order. Firstly all crewmen, in other words non-officers. Initially engineering, followed by Ops, sciences and security. Then the officers in the same order with the exception of our Senior Staff. The senior staff will remain on Voyager and be debriefed in situ before disembarkation. The first group of crewmen to disembark will be the engineering team in approximately forty eight hours. You will transport to HQ where I would expect the debrief to be completed within three days then you will be rejoining your families. I would ask all non officers to begin to pack up their personal belongings for transportation ahead of disembarkation as soon as tonight's reception is over.

May I take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your unstinting loyalty and devotion to duty and your fellow shipmates over the last seven years. It has been my great honour to serve with and get to know you all. May I also make clear that I will not tolerate any distinction between the crew that were assigned to me at Deep Space Nine and those who joined us shortly thereafter in the DQ. You have all been a credit to the uniform and to the ideals that Starfleet and we have striven to maintain.

The reception will take place at 1800 in the Mess Hall. We will be welcomed home by Admirals Necheyev and Paris. Any crew on duty shift will be able to video link in via their monitors. I'll see you all there. Janeway out."

With that she signalled to Tuvok to cut the link and excused herself from the Bridge.

Well, thought Chakotay, at least the Captain has made her position very clear as regards the ex-Maquis. Let's hope that Starfleet plays ball. After all they had suffered heavy losses during the Dominion War so a public relations coup was just what they needed now...

Seven cut the transmission and smiled to herself. So the senior crew would be the last to disembark and would probably be aboard for a couple of weeks yet. Plenty of time to put her plan into operation...what plan?...She chastised herself. Her mind was wandering again. Perhaps her cortical node was malfunctioning? Should she visit the Doctor in sickbay to get it checked? On the other hand he would be snowed under with pre disembarkation crew physicals and updating his medical records. It was probably nothing and she had not regenerated for over twenty four hours. She would head back to the cargo bay and program a two hour cycle, that would give her just enough time to change before the reception. She needed to be mentally alert to meet the Admirals.

Seven entered the alcove and set the cycle to start in thirty seconds. She very much hoped that she would not need to do this for much longer. It would certainly help her romantic relationship with Chakotay if they could share a human bed together...ah, that was better. The Queen felt as though she had been suffocating. Alone, in Seven's head. Alien, human, thoughts that she had long assumed eradicated. The assimilation program for the Borg children was obviously imperfect. She would have to rectify that as soon as she could return her new body to the Collective. First things first, she had a reception to attend this evening. Seven would need to hunt down Commander Chakotay, preferably in his quarters, and persuade him to accompany her there. She could transfer a few more nanoprobes - just to ensure her hold would not waver at the sight of Kathryn in full dress uniform - and unsettle the Captain still further by making a public show of their being a couple. She knew Chakotay had not had THAT conversation with the Captain yet - she would be privy to it when it did occur, after all by then she would have established a full neural link with Chakotay. The words would come from his mouth but they would be hers alone.

She, rather Seven, she corrected herself - would need to charm both Admirals Necheyev and Paris. They needed to leave the reception being convinced that to all intents and purposes she was now fully human. That the Borg threat had been eliminated forever by the brilliant Captain Janeway (the Queen almost felt ire at this point, better keep her guard up against becoming contaminated by Seven's humanity) and that they could relax and drop their guard with her. Chakotay behaving in an amorous way towards her would go a great way in convincing them of that. He was known to be a spiritual man, the antithesis of the Borg, so it would not be conceivable that he would fall in love with a drone. Seven had to be fully human now if he of all people accepted her as such. Perhaps she had better program him to call her Annika. The thought reviled the Queen but she had to look at the bigger picture. It would all be worth it once Janeway had been assimilated. Her knowledge, warrior spirit and intellect combined with the Queen's cunning. Nothing would stop their new Collective from assimilation the entire galaxy. That goal was worth whatever short term price she had to pay. Better allow Seven's /oops Annika's human side to dream. Something romantic about her and the Commander perhaps...the Queen slid back into the recesses of Seven's mind.

Captain Janeway checked her appearance one final time in the mirror. Her dress uniform was spotless, although she had lost a little weight recently so the jacket was rather loose. Her hair was just long enough to pin up in a small bun which she felt would look more formal in front of the Admiralty. She also knew that Nechayev always wore hers up so best to feel on an equal footing. They may outrank her but this was her ship and her crew. Voyager's victory against adversity and she would hold her head up high for each and every one of them. Should she stop by Chakotay's quarters and suggest he join her? It was be reasonable for a Captain and First Officer to arrive at an official function together and it would show, in no uncertain terms, the united front between the formal Starfleet and ex-Maquis crew that she wanted to present to HQ. The decision made Kathryn strode quickly to Chakotay's quarters and chimed the bell. No response. She waited a moment then asked the Computer for Chakotay's current location. Apparently he had just arrived at the Mess Hall. She strode off quickly, not wanting to be late herself, but was surprised that Chakotay had headed straight there. She had expected him to wait for her then the two of them to greet the Admirals in the Transporter Room and accompany them to the reception. Perhaps he had thought she had made such arrangements with Tuvok? Actually that was a sensible idea. She asked the Computer for the location of the Commander and found he was already at Transporter Room 1. Dear, dependable Tuvok she mused to herself. She notified him that she was on her way and just made it in time before the Admirals materialised.

She was pleasantly surprised by the relaxed conversation, particularly from Nechayev. Admiral Paris seemed most interested in hearing as much about his new daughter-in-law, Belanna, and the baby as possible. Kathryn felt a little guilty as she had not had time to visit mother and baby just yet but Tuvok surprised her by saying they were both doing fine and producing a holoimage of Tom, Belanna and the baby (apparently named Miral after Belanna's mother) that the Doctor had taken as soon as Tom arrived from the Bridge. Admiral Paris was ecstatic and Captain Janeway began to relax. Perhaps their debrief would prove to be more a formality than anything and she began to hope that the field commissions she had bestowed in the DQ would be formalised. She wanted her crew to feel a part of the larger Starfleet family and to feel they had options open to them once they had enjoyed some much needed leave with friends and family.

Tuvok opened the Mess Hall doors and the Captain walked in closely followed by the Admirals and Tuvok bringing up the rear. In an instant her mood deflated. There was Commander Chakotay, enthralled by something Seven was whispering in his ear and totally oblivious to their entrance. It was bad enough that he had not accompanied her to greet their guests but not even to acknowledge them now! What was wrong with him?! "Commander Chakotay" she called in her most officious Captain's voice "perhaps you would so good as to join us?"

"Of course Captain" he said, then promptly offered Seven his arm and they strode over. "May I introduce my partner, Annika, formerly known as Seven of Nine." he addressed Admiral Paris with a glance at Nechayev. He steadfastly refused to meet Kathryn's eye. "So you are the ex-Borg drone we have heard so much about from the good Captain?" This on a jovial tone from Paris.

Seven, or was that now Annika, gave the Admirals her most beguiling smile. "Very ex I assure you. I barely remember my life as a drone. It all seems like a bad dream these days. Isn't that right my, love?" This aimed directly at Chakotay.

Kathryn was furious. She had no idea what they were playing at but she had no intention of standing here being made a fool of any longer. "If you'll excuse me I'd like to pay a visit to Belanna and baby Miral. I have just not had a moment since we arrived home." "Of course, Katie, I'll be right behind you" smiled Paris. Chakotay offered to introduce the Admirals to the rest of the senior crew then there would be a formal welcoming speech as soon as Kathryn returned from the Parises quarters. At least him seems to have recovered his wits, Kathryn thought, somewhat cattily. Perhaps she had better distract Seven. "Seven, could you assist Chell with hosting until my return?"

"Of course Captain" she smiled but the smile did not reach her eyes. Kathryn was troubled. This was so unlike Seven, and Chakotay, well ! ...She excused herself before she had time to register any more and headed for Tom and Belanna's quarters. She hoped the baby would be asleep and that Belanna would welcome a brief visit. She could do with a genuinely friendly face and a warm welcome amongst her true friends.

Kathryn had a pleasant fifteen minutes or so with the Paris family. Belanna was understandably still exhausted after the traumatic circumstances of Miral's arrival though, being half Klingon she was loathe to admit it. Belanna was desperate to attend the reception but Tom, for once, put his foot down. Kathryn set up the monitor so Belanna would not miss out and Tom volunteered to attend with the Captain for a few minutes. Baby Miral was adorable and sleeping happily. Belanna suggested they take Miral back with them so she could have a hour or so's peace and quiet and Tom could introduce her to her doting grandfather and all their closest friends. Kathryn, her spirits lifted no end, returned with Tom to the Mess Hall.

As soon as they arrived, the two Admirals took that as their cue to make their welcoming address. The Captain desperately hoped that Miral would stay asleep but Tom seemed to have the knack with her already and the speeches went off without a hitch. Tom then went off to mingle and Kathryn needed to escort the Admirals back to the Transporter Room. She looked around for Commander Chakotay. At least he could see our guests off with me she thought, but he was nowhere in sight, nor was Seven. See was just about to try and hail him when she felt a light touch on her arm. It was Tuvok, immaculate timing as ever. "Please allow me to escort our guests to the transporter. Unfortunately Commander Chakotay has been summoned to the Bridge and sends his apologies" Tuvok lied with aplomb for a Vulcan, although she knew it cost him dearly, but he was protecting her the only way he knew how.

Seven and Chakotay had arrived back at Chakotay's quarters about half an hour ago. She had persuaded him that they should have a celebratory nightcap before she headed back to the cargo bay for the night. She felt exhausted, probably due to such a short regeneration cycle and not quite herself, although she could not put her finger on it. They had just finished their bottle of wine and Seven was keen to take her leave. She went to get up to say her good night's and suddenly had a strong urge to kiss Chakotay ! Though she had no idea where it had come from. She approached him, smiled beguilingly and wished him goodnight. Perhaps they should round their evening off with a parting kiss she heard herself suggesting. She could see in his eyes that he was wrestling with himself. He was obviously not keen so why was she? ...the Queen reasserted herself just enough to get Seven to kiss him lightly on the lips. She had not had an opportunity to touch him tonight and needed the skin to skin contact and small amount of saliva to transfer the nanoprobes. Obviously the last dose was wearing off. Almost immediately Chakotay's demeanour changed and he went to reciprocate. Seven started to feel dizzy, she definitely needed to regenerate and fast ! She made her excuses and as rapid an exit as she could. Why had she behaved like that? Half way to the cargo bay she changed her mind and arranged a site to site transport to sick bay.

The Doctor beamed as Seven materialised. "Doctor help I think my cortical node is malfunctioning I do not feel myself..." she started. The Doctor's demeanour immediately changed to one of concern. "Seven lie on biobed 2 and I'll carry out an immediate thorough diagnostic." But Seven was already backing towards the door. The Queen used the last of their combined energy to exert herself " sorry Doctor, it was a false alarm I am quite well, just overdue for my regeneration cycle. I will, of course, return in the morning if I am not fully functional again by then." She went to leave but her legs buckled under her. With that the Doctor picked her up and placed her on the biobed ready for the diagnostic whether she liked it or not. The Queen realised she may be about to be discovered. She sent a final surge through Seven's cortical node and linked herself to Chakotay's nanoprobes. She had successfully transferred to a new host. Seven started convulsing then passed out. The Doctor got straight to work. He would inform Captain Janeway as soon as he knew what the problem was.

The Queen was impressed with her new host. He may not have Borg cyber enhancements like Seven but he was a strong, fit, human male in his prime and the Queen had no problem in linking the nanoprobes Seven had inserted into the remains of the cortical array implanted by Riley Fraser. A crude arrangement but just sufficient for her to control him for a short while. Chakotay was developing a headache. Perhaps I had too much wine tonight he admonished himself, and barely a bite to eat. No wonder he did not feel well. He should replicate a small snack before turning in. No doubt the Captain is still up, burning the midnight oil. I will pop over and see whether she will join me for a sandwich and cup of tea. Depending on her mood I may broach the subject of Seven, but either way I need to make my peace and congratulate her and the Admiral on getting us all home.

"Good" thought the Queen. It's working. So little time before the remnants of my pattern are discovered by the EMH and the plan fails. Just one brief touch and I have made it to my end host.

Kathryn was exhausted but sleep would not come. It's no use she thought to herself. I may as well have another coffee and make a start on the first crew list for disembarkation. It's really Chakotay's job but I very much doubt if he has started it yet. He seems very pre-occupied with other matters. Forget Chakotay, she admonished herself and get to work. Just then, fate interceded, and her door chimed. "Come" she said, expecting it to be Tuvok to report that the Admirals were safely back at HQ and Voyager had been secured for the night. As the door opened there stood Chakotay with a bottle. "peace offering, by way of an apology for not doing my job this afternoon at the reception. It's non alcoholic and a little more soporific than all that black coffee. May I join you for just a few minutes?"

Kathryn was inclined to send him packing but they needed to be on friendly terms, at least as far as he was concerned, for the next fortnight in order to survive all the debriefings. She needed Starfleet to see that they were a harmonious crew with a harmonious command team. Discussions around Seven could wait until they were back on Earth and had been released on leave. Hopefully she could just wish them both well with a few platitudes and that would be that. "Of course Commander. Sorry Chakotay. It's been a long day and I'm a little out of sorts. How are you coping with being back? And how are the crew responding?"

"Like you say, everyone is a little shell shocked but most are happy and relieved. Even my ex-Maquis crew. But let's keep serious business conversations to duty hours. I just stopped by to congratulate you and the Admiral on pulling off the impossible and getting us home whilst vanquishing the Borg. You must be so relieved."

"I am Chakotay. If only the Admiral could have known that we made it safely home." She looked wistful and the Queen saw her chance. Chakotay went over to Janeway and suggested they sit on the sofa whilst he poured them both a glass of elderberry cordial. Kathryn sat and Chakotay smiled at her. "We made it Kathryn, after seven long years, we made it home" and with that he took her hands.

Immediately Kathryn felt it, an icy chill down her spine and a feeling off nausea. "We meet again Captain Janeway" said the Queen inside her head. She looked at Chakotay who was looking nauseous and disorientated. Just then the Doctor materialized in her quarters with Tuvok and fired a phaser at Chakotay set on stun. Too late thought Kathryn.

The Doctor looked at her "Captain?". "It's alright Doctor, It's working. Just give me a couple of minutes to regain my composure and transport Chakotay to sickbay. I'll come down with Tuvok in a few minutes and you can check me over to be sure."

The Doctor picked up Chakotay and beamed out. Tuvok was holding the phaser, set on stun, pointed at her head. Better safe than sorry where the Borg were concerned.

Kathryn felt her equilibrium returning and the Queen's presence fading. She would have the last word. Inside her mind she said to the Queen "No, it was indeed you who underestimated us. Do you really think that the Admiral was the only one inoculated with the viral serum? Rot in hell."and with that she felt the last vistages of the Queen fade into oblivion.

"Come on Tuvok. Let's get this physical over and done with" she said with a wry smile and they headed down to sickbay.

THE END

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